PIF in fresh drive to boost Saudi Arabia’s green credentials

LONDON: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has announced the establishment of a new energy service company, Super Esco, to increase energy efficiency across government and public buildings.
A royal decree has been issued requiring government entities to contract Super Esco on an exclusive basis in order to improve energy efficiency. The company was established to stimulate growth in efficiency industries, in line with the objectives of Vision 2030 to diversify the Saudi economy and drive environmental sustainability.
In partnership with the Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, the Ministry of Finance, and the Saudi Energy Efficiency Center, Super Esco will provide new investment opportunities by creating partnerships with the private sector to deliver projects.
Projects in Saudi Arabia’s energy efficiency sector have an estimated value of SR 42 billion ($11.2 billion), or around SR 3 billion annually. Internationally, the sector is valued at SR 130 billion, with projects in the US, Europe, and China accounting for 90 percent of the global market share.
Super Esco has been established with a capitalization of SR 1.9 billion. The company will fund and manage the retrofit of government and public buildings, which represent over 70 percent of overall projects in the sector. These projects will help reduce government spending on the electricity sector, which will in turn reduce natural resource consumption while rationalizing capital investments in expansion projects for the production, generation, transmission, and distribution of
electricity.
Earlier this week PIA launched an initiative designed to increase waste recycling in the Kingdom from 10 percent to 85 percent. A new unit will develop and operate projects to decrease landfill and boost recycling and link with private companies to forge new partnerships.
The Kingdom currently recycles around 10 percent of the 45.3 million tons of recyclable waste it produces, with 90 percent diverted to landfills, preliminary studies by PIF have found. More than 40 percent of the Kingdom’s recyclable materials are produced in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam.
PIF’s plan aims at using some recyclable materials as a source of alternative energy for the manufacturing sector.
Working alongside global strategic partners and renowned investment managers, PIF acts as the Kingdom’s main invest-ment arm to deliver a strategy focused on achieving attractive financial returns and long-term value for KSA.
PIF aims to be the world’s most impactful investor, “enabling the creation of new sectors and opportunities that will shape the future global economy, while driving the economic transformation of Saudi Arabia,” it has stated.

US trade negotiators to visit China for fresh round of talks

Washington and Beijing are battling over the final shape of a trade deal

American officials are demanding profound changes to Chinese industrial policy

Updated 21 March 2019

AFP

March 21, 2019 07:46

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BEIJING: US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will visit China on March 28-29 for a fresh round of talks aimed at resolving the bruising trade war, the Chinese commerce ministry said Thursday.
After their visit, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will head to the United States in April to continue the negotiations, ministry spokesman Gao Feng said at a press briefing.
Washington and Beijing are battling over the final shape of a trade deal, with American officials demanding profound changes to Chinese industrial policy.
President Donald Trump warned Wednesday that US tariffs on Chinese imports could remain in place for a “substantial period,” dampening hopes that an agreement would see them lifted soon.
Over the last eight months, the United States and China have slapped tariffs on more than $360 billion in two-way goods trade, weighing on the manufacturing sectors in both countries.
On Friday, China’s rubber-stamp parliament approved a foreign investment law to strengthen protections for intellectual property — a central US grievance — but critics said the bill was rammed through without sufficient time for input from businesses.